A proposal to hand the Rialto Theatre over to Limassol Municipality is on the agenda of the Council of Ministers, the Finance Ministry confirmed to Politis. The proposal, prepared by the Finance Ministry, essentially concerns leasing the theatre to the municipality, which is willing to cover 50% of its operating costs. Cabinet was scheduled to meet on Wednesday at 4.30pm, although it was not certain that the Rialto item would be reached. The Finance Ministry told Politis that several proposals are on the day's agenda and that particular weight is being given to the new package of measures to tackle the rising cost of living. As a result, while the Rialto proposal has been included in the order of business, it remains open whether it will be examined on the day. Finance Minister Makis Keravnos announced the new package earlier this week, saying the government is working on a range of options and that one of the packages was expected to be submitted to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.
Second time on the agenda
This is not the first time the Rialto proposal has reached the Cabinet agenda. It was due to be examined at an earlier session in September but was ultimately not discussed. The Finance Ministry told Politis that, more broadly, when a proposal does not go ahead at one session, the relevant services are able to work on it further so that it returns in improved form. In the case of the Rialto, the intervening period appears to have involved consultation with the Deputy Ministry of Culture. Information indicates that the Deputy Ministry of Culture also had its own plans regarding the future operation and management of the theatre.
What the proposal provides
Limassol Mayor Yiannis Armeftis gave Politis further details of the proposal, saying the municipality has been informed that the matter is on the Cabinet agenda and expects a positive outcome. He explained that the handover of the Rialto is a long-standing position of Limassol Municipality, which has already sent letters and held meetings with the Finance Ministry on the issue, while Deputy Minister of Culture Klea Hadjistephanou Papaellina has also been briefed. "We are waiting for it," Armeftis said of the Finance Ministry's proposal, which he explained essentially concerns leasing the venue to the municipality. "The Rialto belongs to the people of Limassol," he said, adding that the municipality is the body best placed to give expression to that wish. According to the mayor, the municipality has already submitted its position and proposal, together with a broader plan for the Rialto's place in the city's cultural planning, which also takes in the Pattihio Municipal Theatre and the other cultural infrastructure the municipality owns. The aim, he stressed, is for the Rialto to continue producing culture not only for Limassol but for the whole of Cyprus.
On the financial side, Armeftis said the proposal provides for Limassol Municipality to cover 50% of the Rialto's operating costs for a three-year transitional period, intended to give the theatre the time it needs to become sustainable afterwards. The mayor also made clear that the municipality's position is that the Rialto must keep its autonomy. He described the current management model as successful and said the organisation's independence should be safeguarded under the new arrangement. In the same vein, he referred to the activities and festivals the Rialto co-organises with the Deputy Ministry of Culture, saying that cooperation should continue. On governance, Armeftis said the stakeholders could be represented on the board, with the participation of both the municipality and the state, without overturning the model in place today. "The board of directors model is successful," he said, adding that the Rialto "must keep its independence."
A legacy of the co-op's dissolution
The ownership and funding status of the Rialto has remained an open question since the dissolution of the cooperative banking sector. The building was acquired by the Limassol Cooperative Savings Bank, which also helped cover the theatre's operating costs. Following the collapse of the cooperative sector, the property passed into the assets of SEDIPES, which are managed by KEDIPES. The Rialto's funding was also at the centre of an Audit Office report on the Finance Ministry's ex gratia grants. As recorded in that report, after funding from the Limassol Cooperative Savings Bank ceased, the Council of Ministers approved an annual grant of €250,000 for 2022–2024 to cover part of the theatre's operating costs.
